Labour’s leader in South Gloucestershire will challenge the other political parties to join him in asking the local NHS to overturn a decision to hand nursing care at the new Frenchay community hospital over to the private sector. Bosses from the North Bristol NHS Trust told councillors last month that they do not see themselves as running the new community hospital when it opens in 2014, and that the running of the new hospital and the nursing staff would instead be provided by an external company.
Now Labour’s leader, Councillor Andy Perkins (Labour, Woodstock), has tabled a motion for debate when South Gloucestershire Council meets on Wednesday 19th October. The motion will call on the Council to lobby the Trust to rethink and overturn this decision. It also asks the district’s three MPs to add their pressure to retain an all-NHS facility at Frenchay.
Commenting on the move, Cllr Perkins said:
“Most local patients will be shocked to learn that the Frenchay community hospital will not be an all-NHS facility when it opens in 2014. This part-privatisation was never part of the original plans for redeveloping Frenchay. It is a worrying and unwelcome development which I fear is a sign of what the Tory-led government plans to do with our public services. Political dogma and the Tories’ love of the market must not be put before patient care and staff conditions.”
Responding to accusations that the previous Labour government supported private health provision, in particular building the Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) at Emersons Green, Councillor Perkins pointed out:
“This latest move is totally different from the ISTC which complements existing NHS provision in our area. This new proposal for Frenchay will remove NHS provision in our area.”
Source: Labour Councillors on South Gloucestershire Council
